Thank You, Sir
by thelovelydreamer
Summary: Everlark takes the Civil War. Among the horrors of war, a certain one-legged boy meets a girl disguised as a man. one-shot


**So, I wrote this Everlark One-Shot for promptsinpanem on tumblr. It's not great, I know, but I figured I might as well put it up. I don't think it's too terrible, just not one of my best. Anyway, enjoy!**

The walls of the tent rattled. Katniss looked up to find a blond boy knocking on the frame.

"Officer Mellark," she said, "what can I do for you?"

"I—well, I wanted to ask about the whereabouts of your sister. I've been told to thank her for her help with Sargeant Odair's wounds," he replied, trying to keep his tone level.

"She's in the hospital tent, just down the way." Katniss tried not to sound too irritated. Prim was where she always was, and Officer Mellark knew that.

"Thank you," he gushed.

"Thank you _sir_," she corrected.

"Thank you sir."

She waited until he was gone and she was definitely alone to close the flaps of her tent and take off her hat. Her long braid spilled down her back, and she sighed with relief. It was hard work pretending to be a man. No one other than her sister, who was a nurse, and Gale could ever know that she was female. Although the war was partly being fought for the liberation of avoxes, Katniss felt that women's rights should be thrown into the fight as well. But no, the only way to accomplish anything around here was to be male. If that was what was required of her, that was what she would do.

Tucking her hair back up under her hat and checking to make sure her chest was securely bound, Katniss got up to find Gale.

Peeta had arrived at the hospital tent only to find Prim not there. He started walking back towards the others when he bumped into Major Everdeen. Literally. He stumbled backwards, knocking off his cap.

Or rather_, her_ cap. Major Everdeen's long dark braid fell down her back. Peeta's became fixated on it, and he therefore didn't notice the death glare she was shooting him.

"Crap!" She muttered. "Crap crap crap _crap_. Damn you, Mellark." Major Everdeen hastily stuffed her hair back under her cap.

"You- you're a g-_girl?" _Peeta whispered in awe.

"Shut up," she hissed, grabbing his arm and pulling him into a quiet clearing in the woods, away from the hustle and bustle of the main army camp. "Yes, I am. But you better keep quiet about it."

Major Everdeen proceeded to tell her story, explaining how her father had been killed in one of the early battles of the war and she'd wanted to do him justice. The idea of being an army nurse was utterly humiliating in her opinion, so she'd conned her way into the forces. Her superior skills with weapons had helped her move up in the ranks of the army until she had attained the role of Major.

Peeta watched her face as she talked. Sharp and alive, she had little freckles that danced up her narrow nose. Her grey eyes glinted dangerously. In a strange way, she was quite pretty. No, her sister was pretty—soft and delicate like the Primrose for which she was named—Major Everdeen was too dangerous to be pretty. She was captivating, mesmerizing, and radiant.

"What's your name?" he blurted out.

Major Everdeen was caught off guard. "Katniss," she said, "Katniss Everdeen."

Katniss. It was a good name; unique, yet sturdy. She was named well.

Alarm bells rang in the distance. The enemy, the Capitol, was approaching. A battle was beginning.

Guns blared, cannons fired, men fell, and others wept. Amid the chaos of the battlefield, Katniss felt alive. Adrenaline raced through her body and her heart pounded in her ears. She never killed or injured men except out of self-defense—that was her rule. She dodged and deflected bullets, directed men, and kept order. That was how she fought. Gale took the violence, she took the orders. Together, their system worked.

The battle lasted through the day and into the night, with massive casualties on either side. But they had won. The Capitol was weakened yet again, set back even further. They were safe for now.

Prim was rushing around the hospital tents. The battle had resulted in one of the highest casualty counts so far, so all of the nurses were kept on their toes.

"Hey there, little duck."

Prim turned to see Katniss smiling at her. She planted a kiss on her older sister's cheek.

"Gale's fine, Katniss. So is Lieutenant Odair," Prim informed her.

"That's good to hear. Oddly, though, that's not who I was worried about. Officer Mellark—do you know if he's all right?" Katniss plastered her face into the picture of calm, but Prim knew her sister better. She was worried. And she had right to be.

"He's in the next row over, third bed from the end. Took a nasty shot to the leg. It's been amputated. It's too soon to tell, but he's looking like he'll make it." Prim sighed. It was horrible having to deliver news like this to her sister, especially after all they'd already been through. She remembered the day she'd had to tell Katniss about Cinna. And Beetee. And Thresh.

She shuddered and turned back to her sister, but Katniss had already gone.

Katniss found Officer Mellark looking as pale as the sheets he was wrapped in. The bandages on what remained of his leg had once matched, too, but it was now stained a rusty red.

"Hey, there, sir," he rasped, attempting to sit up and not succeeding.

"Hi." Katniss stroked his soft blond hair, trying to work out the clumps formed by blood and dirt. "How are you?"

"Legless."

"So I see. How are you other than that?"

"Other than the fact that I am missing a vital limb? Oh, I'm grand. In fact, I'm in the mood for some dancing," he smirked.

"Not funny," Katniss replied.

"I know it isn't. I'm in denial. I'm just so tired, Katniss," Officer Mellark yawned.

"I'll leave you to rest then, Officer Mellark."

"Peeta."

"Excuse me?" Katniss said.

"Peeta. That's my name. You can call me Peeta."

"Alright then, Peeta. Sleep well." Katniss pecked him tentatively on the forehead and turned to leave.

Katniss began to visit a rapidly healing Peeta every day. They were mostly in a time of peace, or as much peace as was possible during the war. There were no battles fought, and men began to slack off of their training. Days turned to weeks, and weeks to months. It began to seem as if their regiment was no longer needed.

This had ceased to worry Katniss, however; she was too focused on keeping Peeta company. They told stories, played cards, and she even sang him a few songs. They attracted attention from quite a few of the other officers and nurses in the tent, but considering the affair they'd witnessed between Privates Marvel and Gloss a few months back, they weren't terribly surprised.

One afternoon, about a month and a half after Peeta had lost his leg, he began to lean towards Katniss. She pulled back sharply. "Peeta," she said, "we can't."

"Just tell them, Katniss. Just tell them already," he replied a bit too loudly for Katniss's liking.

"No." She turned to leave, only to feel her hat be pulled from her head and her hair fly lose around her shoulders.

Katniss's intention for turning back around had been to either yell at him or pick up her hat, whichever was more convenient. She hadn't expected to kiss him.

Peeta leaned forward and grabbed Katniss, pulling her forward into a kiss. He felt her struggle for a second before giving in, felt her lips soft against his, her heartbeat steady and strong against his chest. He vaguely registered a gasp from some of the other patients, but it didn't matter. He was happy in the moment, kissing Katniss.

She pulled back. "Mmrph—what are you doing?"

"I love you," he whispered. "I really, truly do. They said I'm healing faster every day, and I should be able to go home soon. They also said that they have a prosthetic leg they want me to test—isn't that exciting?"

"I love you, too," Katniss was quiet for a minute. "When you leave, I'm coming with you. They won't want me now that they know I'm a girl, anyway."

"Damn straight!" came a cry from across the aisle, along with a couple of cheers and catcalls.

"Wherever you go, I'll come with you. I'm done with these games of endless violence. I love you," she whispered, stroking his hair.

"And I, you." Peeta pulled her in for another kiss.

**So? What did you think? Review review review!**

**I fixed the inconsistencies between General/Major Everdeen. I'd started writing one thing but changed to another. Anyway, it's fixed now. Oh, and my next Everlark one-shot, _Broken_, is going up tonight. Check it out!  
**


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